Big Gigs for June 6-12: Elvis Costello, Eagulls, Cher, Backstreet Boys and much more

Elvis Costello has been a regular visitor to the Twin Cities since he played the long-gone but not forgotten Longhorn on Valentine’s Day 1978. He’s performed with the Attractions, the Imposters, Steve Nieve and Allen Toussaint. But he’s never played here solo. With about 30 studio albums to choose from, the Rock Hall of Famer has a wealth of terrific tunes, but at previous solo performances in the past couple of years (we’re the first of his 10 solo gigs this year) he’s pulled selections from the Great American Songbook and other pre-Elvis Presley sources. He always surprises and rewards. (7:30 p.m. Mon., the O’Shaughnessy, $45-$95.) Bream

POP/ROCK

It’s been 10 years since Twin Cities fans got to see David Bowie live but 11 years that they’ve been enjoying “Rock for Pussy,” the Feline Rescue benefit concert in his honor. Veteran bandleader John Eller will welcome a cast this year that includes Chan Poling and other Suburbs members, Little Man’s Chris Perricelli, R&B man Maurice Jacox, All the Pretty Horses’ Venus DeMars, Idle Hands’ Ciaran Daly, the Rembrandts’ Phil Solem, Black Diet’s Jonathan Tolliver and many more. Jake Rudh will DJ before and after. Attendees are encouraged to come glammed up. (9 p.m. Fri., First Avenue, $10-$12.) Chris Riemenschneider

Even though “Zamboni” is the Gear Daddies’ most beloved song, the 1990s Minnesota rockers seem to reunite in the summertime for outdoor gigs. The set list for Martin Zellar and the boys usually includes “Stupid Boy,” “She’s Happy” and that aforementioned hockey anthem. Appearing with them at Plymouth’s Hilde open-air bandshell is Gary Louris, the Jayhawks frontman who also has worked with the Dixie Chicks and Nickel Creek; he’ll be accompanied by Jayhawks keyboardist Karen Grotberg. (7:30 p.m. Fri., Hilde Performance Center, Plymouth, $37 & $52.) Jon Bream

If you like 1960s jukebox music, the SilverTones offer a fun flashback. The Rolling Stones, Supremes, Hendrix, Beatles, Sonny & Cher, even one-hit wonders the Knickerbockers (“Lies”) — the SilverTones cover them all, along with old-school soul, Phil Spector pop and the “Peter Gunn” theme. It’ll be a special night for the band, as drummer Mike Sandell, longtime sticksman of 1990s blues group the Boogiemen, celebrates his 60th birthday. Let’s hope he gets some “Satisfaction.” (9 p.m. Fri., Schooner Tavern, 2901 27th Av. S., Mpls. No cover.) Tom Surowicz

In September Ben Nichols will play his biggest Twin Cities gig to date, opening for the Replacements at Midway with his rowdy Memphis soul-twang band Lucero, but first he has a little solo gig to play, just as he did this weekend last year. It’s a good chance for him to escape the Memphis sweat and for fans to see his more songwriterly side. Joey Kneiser and Kelly Smith of Tennessee band Glossary open as a duo. (7 p.m. Sun., 7th Street Entry, $16.) Riemenschneider

Never lacking for personal drama to write about, Steve Earle just ended his seventh marriage, is finishing his memoirs and remains a road warrior. He’s touring with his band, the Dukes, promoting last year’s top-notch Americana collection “The Low Highway,” on which his most recent wife, Allison Moorer, played a fairly prominent role. Even though there are such barroom romps as “After Mardi Gras” and “Pocket Full of Rain,” many of these tunes cut deep — especially the closer, “Remember Me,” about a father to his son. Opening are the Mastersons, featuring members of Earle’s backup band. (7:30 p.m. Sun., Minnesota Zoo, $45 & $57.50.) Bream

The gravelly, soulful-voiced one of the three singers in England’s perennially underrated psychedelic roots-pop band Gomez, Ben Ottewell is touring with a trio to promote his new crowdfunded album “Rattlebag,” which sounds more acoustic-based and twangy than his stuff with the band but is unmistakably him. And yep, he’s playing Gomez songs, too. (9 p.m. Tue., 7th Street Entry, $15.) Riemenschneider

Attention, indie-rock music nerds: It’s cool to like Clap Your Hands Say Yeah again. The wiry Philadelphia rockers rode a tidal wave of music-blogger drool with their 2005 debut but then got spit on over the undeniably clunky follow-up. Following frontman Alec Ounsworth’s intriguing 2009 solo effort, though, the band has made two more polished and ambitious albums, including the atmospheric and roaring new one, “Only Run,” which shows traces of “Monster”-era R.E.M. and “Bends”-style Radiohead. Indiana sibling duo Stagnant Pools opens. (9 p.m. Wed., Triple Rock, $15.) Riemenschneider

Spanish Gold is a Texas-baked psychedelic grind-rock trio featuring My Morning Jacket drummer Patrick Hallahan, ex-Grupo Fantasma guitarist Adrian Quesada and singer/guitarist Dante Schwebel of the underrated Dan Auerbach-produced band Hacienda. They just unleashed a doozy of a debut album, “South of Nowhere,” led by the feverish and infectious single “Out on the Street” and loaded with throbbing, gritty funk jams and glammed-up rock. Should be an extra-hot summer club gig. Nashville quartet Clear Plastic Masks open. (8 p.m. Mon., Triple Rock, $12-$14.) Riemenschneider

Eagulls will finally land in Minneapolis. The rather dumbly named — and, let’s admit it, sort of dopey-looking — quintet from Leeds, England, plays a smart, smarmy brand of bombastic, reverb-soaked roar-rock, with echoes of John Lydon’s PiL and the Pixies. They got attention from the British press for some bratty antics, but their self-titled debut album overshadowed the hoopla in the end. They’re even more powerful live. Openers Cheatahs are another poorly named but hair-raisingly loud British band that already wowed an Entry crowd last year. (9 p.m. Mon., 7th Street Entry, $10-$12.) Riemenschneider

After going seven years between Twin Cities dates, Welsh rocker Karl Wallinger is back as World Party less than a year after a two-gig stand at the Dakota with a trio lineup that was every bit as moving and mystical as his ’60s-echoing albums of the late 1980s. Wallinger seemed fully recuperated and even rejuvenated after being sidelined by a brain aneurysm, and his best-known tunes such as “Ship of Fools” and “Way Down Now” sadly haven’t lost their topical relevance, either. (7 & 9 p.m. Tue., Dakota, $35-$40.) Riemenschneider

With all five members back in the fold, the Backstreet Boys will party like it’s 1999 because you fans want it that way. Boy-band harmonies are forever — even if Kevin Richardson (who rejoined BSB in 2012) is 42 and Nick Carter, 34, finally got married in April and has announced a side project album and tour this year with Jordan Knight of New Kids on the Block. Opening is Avril Lavigne, the Canadian pop-punk star who can boast several hits (always loved “Sk8er Boi”), her own fragrance and fashion line, and Canada’s biggest rock star (Nickelback’s Chad Kroeger) as her husband. (7:30 p.m. Tue., Xcel Energy Center, $29.50-$150.) Bream

On her four-year farewell tour that ended in 2005, Cher played the Twin Cities three times. At 68, she promises that her current Dressed to Kill Tour (named for a song on her 2013 album, “Closer to the Truth”) will be her touring swan song. She’ll offer new and old songs, priceless clips of her movies and years with Sonny, and enough out-there outfits to make Lady Gaga envious. Cyndi Lauper opens, with “Girls Just Want to Have Fun” and her Tony-winning Broadway anthem “Kinky Boots.” (7:30 p.m. Wed., Target Center, $27.50-$133.) Bream

Veteran troubadours John Gorka and Michael Johnson have a couple of obvious things in common: they record for St. Paul’s Red House Records and love compelled them to move to the Twin Cities. While Gorka has built a following on the acoustic music circuit, Johnson has enjoyed pop hits (“Bluer Than Blue”) and country triumphs (“Give Me Wings”). (7 p.m. Thu., Dakota, $35.) Bream

The new version of Colt Ford’s 2008 debut, dubbed “Ride the Country Revisited,” suggests that the country rapper/singer is two parts Big & Rich and one part Florida Georgia Line. He may be a strong personality as a redneck party animal, but he’s hardly a skillful rapper (he rhymes baby sitter and Twitter, bar and guitar, dress and hot mess). Next month, Ford will drop “Thanks for Listening,” a new collection featuring a slew of sung hooks by Keith Urban, Chase Rice, Lee Brice, Justin Moore, Randy Houser and Jerrod Niemann. (9 p.m. Fri., Mill City Nights, $22-$45.) Bream

BLUES

The man they call “Superharp,” James Cotton, is one of the true living legends of the blues. And he’s bringing one of the best blue-eyed blues belters in the nation: Darrell Nulisch, leader of Texas Heat and original frontman of Anson Funderbergh & the Rockets. Cotton is fresh from being declared best traditional male artist at the 35th annual Blues Music Awards in Memphis. And Nulisch sounds typically great on his boss’ most recent Alligator Records release, “Cotton Mouth Man,” particularly on a fun track about a frisky female, “Saint on Sunday.” (8 p.m. Wed., Dakota, $40 & $35.) Surowicz

BLUEGRASS

Banjo ace Alan Munde has a résumé that would make any bluegrasser proud: He’s played with Poor Richard’s Almanac (featuring a teenage Sam Bush), Jimmy Martin & the Sunny Mountain Boys, the Flying Burrito Brothers and Country Gazette. He’s made many solo albums and a couple of duo albums with Bush. Munde will team up with two top Minnesota pickers, guitarist Adam Granger and mandolinist Dick Kimmel. (9 p.m. Thu., Aster Cafe, $15.) Bream

CLASSICAL

For the first time, the Minnesota Orchestra is presenting Mozart’s final three symphonies on a single program. Nos. 39, 40 and 41 (“Jupiter”) are pinnacles of classical symphonic writing, and of Mozart’s output. They are also shrouded in mystery. All were composed in a blaze of inspiration during the summer of 1788, three years before his death, but they never were performed during his lifetime, leaving unanswered the question of why and for whom they were composed. Brit Christopher Warren-Green, music director of the London Chamber Orchestra, conducts. (8 p.m. Fri.-Sat., Orchestra Hall, $22-$84.) William Randall Beard